UH officially joins Big East Conference

Updated 12:06 am, Thursday, December 8, 2011

Case Keenum and the University of Houston just finished a 12-1 season in Conference USA. Soon, though, the Cougars will be playing in the Big East Conference.

Case Keenum and the University of Houston just finished a 12-1 season in Conference USA. Soon, though, the Cougars will be playing in the Big East Conference.

Photo: Nick De La Torre, Houston Chronicle

UH officially joins Big East Conference

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University of Houston president Renu Khator and athletic director Mack Rhoades are nothing if not aggressive.

When it comes to improving UH’s lot, whether in academics or athletics, Khator and Rhoades have gone full bore to elevate the school. On Wednesday, the Cougars got a boost in their athletic profile, officially accepting an invitation to the Big East Conference.

UH was one of five schools to be officially added by the league, joining Boise State, Central Florida, San Diego State and SMU, effective in time for the 2013 football season. UH, Central Florida and SMU enter the league as full members while Boise State and San Diego State join the conference for football only.

“I am honored and very pleased to accept the invitation to be a member of the Big East family,” Khator said. “Our vision at the University of Houston is to be a nationally competitive university in every field: research, student success and athletics. This affiliation gives us an opportunity to play in a nationally competitive environment and to show our talents on a national stage.

“This is a game-changer for us, and I know everybody here is very excited.”

The expansion gives the Big East 10 long-term football members, with the five newcomers joining Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Rutgers and South Florida.

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The league is trying to get to 12 football members in its expansion plan to help stem the losses of Pittsburgh, Syracuse and West Virginia, all three of which commissioner John Marinatto intends to hold to a 27-month waiting period before leaving the conference.

“The Big East is a great conference, is nationally competitive and academically strong,” Khator said. “These are the finest universities, with great leadership, super talent. It is truly our privilege to join the Big East”

The move provides several benefits to UH. It makes the football program a part of an automatic-qualifying Bowl Championships Series conference for the first time since the BCS began in 1998, meaning the Cougars will have easier access to a BCS bowl bid. And while it’s unclear what will happen with the BCS system when its contract expires after the 2013 season, UH would still benefit from an expected financial windfall when the Big East renegotiates its TV agreements with ESPN and CBS next September.

Marinatto said adding the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth markets is significant as the league prepares for its next TV rights deal.

“Certainly the marketplaces that are represented in those two markets as well as the other markets that we’ve talked about will drive significant value for the Big East Conference,” Marinatto said. “The Big East Conference represents, by far, more television households, more pay television households, more people in the country literally than any other conference in the country.”

Nationwide reach

While attrition in the league has caused concern for some, Marinatto is confident that Wednesday’s expansion, paired with future expansion the conference will continue to seek, will position it well for the future.

“The Big East Conference has faced challenges in the past and each time has come out stronger than before,” Marinatto said. “That has happened once again. This expansion clearly moves us far beyond our origins in the northeast. With these five new members, our conference will continue to have, by far, the single largest media footprint in intercollegiate athletics, spanning literally coast‑to‑coast in football and all the major regions in between.

“In effect, the Big East Conference will be the first truly national college football conference.”